Danish Velodrome Roof Partly Collapses

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, January 2, 2003

Part of the roof on a velodrome collapsed early Friday when a pair of wooden rafters broke. No one was injured.

A portion of the roof collapsed over about 150 spectator seats, police said. Two workers inside the building were not hurt.

Investigators and engineers will meet to try and figure out what caused the rafters to break, police spokesman Kim Svenningsen said. The extent of the damage was not known.

Indoor bicycle races and rock concerts are held in the Siemens Arena, which opened in 2001. The arena, which seats as many as 8,000, also has courts for basketball, handball, badminton and volleyball matches.

The arena was the site of the scheduled Copenhagen six-day race starting Jan. 31. Organizer Henrik Elmgreen said that the event would likely be canceled.